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Monday, September 5, 2011

Turkey Puts Squeeze On Egypt On Israel

By Samer Al-Atrush

Turkey's
expulsion of the Israeli ambassador puts pressure on Egypt to downgrade ties
following outrage over the killings of Egyptian policemen on the Sinai border
with Israel, analysts said. But they said post-Mubarak Egypt's military rulers
are unlikely to expel the Jewish state's envoy despite widespread calls for his
expulsion and for Cairo to revise its 1979 peace treaty with Israel. Turkey's
decision to expel the ambassador over the deaths of nine Turkish activists when
Israeli commandos raided an aid shipment to Gaza comes at a time of growing
debate in post-revolutionary Egypt on ties with Israel.

Ankara,
positioning itself as a regional leader, has in the past embarrassed Egypt with
its outspoken condemnation of Israel's treatment of Palestinians, in contrast
to the restraint of now ousted president Hosni Mubarak's regime. "Turkey
teaches Egypt a lesson and expels the Israeli ambassador," screamed a
headline splashed in red across the front page of Saturday's Al-Masry Al-Youm,
the country's largest independent newspaper.

The
timing of Turkey's announcement and especially the reduction in the level of
diplomatic ties puts Egyptian authorities in an embarrassing position,"
said Issandr El Amrani, an independent analyst and blogger. "It makes
Turkey look decisive while Egypt looks ambivalent," said Amrani, who blogs
on www.arabist.net.

Turkey
announced the expulsion on Friday after a UN report accused Israel of using
excessive force during the May 2010 raid on the Turkish-led flotilla for the
Gaza Strip. It also came weeks after Egypt's caretaker government appeared to
struggle with a response to the shooting to death of five of its policemen in
the Sinai along the border with Israel on Aug 18. The cabinet at first said it
would recall its envoy from Tel Aviv but then removed the threat from its
website. Days later, it denied it had taken any decision at all as street
protests raged outside Israel's embassy.

One
protester became a national hero after he clambered up to the embassy on a top
floor of a highrise and replaced Israel's flag with the Egyptian flag. Essam
El-Erian, deputy head of the influential Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and
Justice party, said Turkey's move would add to the sentiment that Cairo's
response was inappropriate after settling for an apology and an investigation.
"This will lead to more pressure, because all the political forces were
calling for the Zionist ambassador's expulsion. People feel the measures taken
did not restore dignity to Egyptians," he said.

Turkey's
expulsion of the envoy, analysts said, also highlighted the shrinking influence
of Egypt, once a regional leader which now depends heavily on US aid.
"This will pressure Egypt's government, but the situation has many
facets," said Mustafa Ellabbad, director of the Cairo-based Sharq Centre
for Regional and Strategic Studies. "Turkey wants to give a lesson, that
with political will and a strong economy you can treat other countries as
equals," he said. "If you have neither, you can't," he said.
"The situation in Egypt is different because of its large reliance on
American foreign aid, which affects political decisions.

Egypt's
military, in charge since Mubarak's ouster in February, receives more than one
billion dollars from Washington yearly in a trade off after Cairo became the
first Arab state to make peace with Israel. It now faces pressure to revise the
treaty, which allows it limited access to the Sinai peninsula, from which
Israel withdrew after the 1979 treaty.

Retired
General Abdelmoneim Kato, who remains close to the ruling generals, said Egypt
had considerations other than Turkey when it came to deciding on a response to
the deaths of its citizens. "The incident of the (Gaza aid ship) was
different from the border incident, so there is no comparison," he said.

The
peace is strategic for Israel, for Egypt, and for the whole world," the
general said, noting that Mubarak was seen as one of Israel's closest regional
allies despite the cold peace between the two countries. A major diplomatic
crisis between Egypt and Israel was triggered by the death of the policemen on
Aug 18 as Israeli forces chased Palestinian militants along the border after a
deadly attack nearby. – AFP

About Me

I graduated from the French University in Beirut (St Joseph) specialising in Political and Economic Sciences. I started my working life in 1973 as a reporter and journalist for the pan-Arab magazine “Al-Hawadess” in Lebanon later becoming its Washington, D.C. correspondent. I subsequently moved to London in 1979 joining “Al-Majallah” magazine as its Deputy Managing Editor. In 1984 joined “Assayad” magazine in London initially as its Managing Editor and later as Editor-in-Chief. Following this, in 1990 I joined “Al-Wasat” magazine (part of the Dar-Al-Hayat Group) in London as a Managing Editor. In 2011 I became the Editor-In-Chief of Miraat el-Khaleej (Gulf Mirror). In July 2012 I became the Chairman of The Board of Asswak Al-Arab Publishing Ltd in UK and the Editor In Chief of its first Publication "Asswak Al-Arab" Magazine (Arab Markets Magazine) (www.asswak-alarab.com).

I have already authored five books. The first “The Tears of the Horizon” is a love story. The second “The Winter of Discontent in The Gulf” (1991) focuses on the first Gulf war sparked by Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait. His third book is entitled “Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: From Balfour Promise to Bush Declaration: The Complications and the Road to a Lasting Peace” (March 2008). The fourth book is titled “How Iran Plans to Fight America and Dominate the Middle East” (October 2008) And the fifth and the most recent is titled "JIHAD'S NEW HEARTLANDS: Why The West Has Failed To Contain Islamic Fundamentalism" (May 2011).

Furthermore, I wrote the memoirs of national security advisor to US President Ronald Reagan, Mr Robert McFarlane, serializing them in “Al-Wasat” magazine over 14 episodes in 1992.

Over the years, I have interviewed and met several world leaders such as American President Bill Clinton, British Prime Minister Margaret Thacher, Late King Hassan II of Morocco, Late King Hussein of Jordan,Tunisian President Zein El-Abedine Bin Ali, Lybian Leader Moammar Al-Quadhafi,President Amine Gemayel of Lebanon,late Lebanese Prime Minister Rafic Hariri, Late Palestinian Chairman Yasser Arafat, Haitian President Jean Claude Duvalier, Late United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan,Algerian President Shazli Bin Jdid, Jamaican Prime Minister Edward Siyagha and more...